Coupon Porn. Or A Pantry Overhaul.

So my home is tiny.  And I don't have the luxury of a basement dedicated to storing 200 rolls of paper towels and such.  Heck, I have yet to figure out how the folks on the TLC show are acquiring floor to ceiling toilet paper for free!

But I do have a large (well large my my 150 year old home standards) hall closet.  That until a few days ago was used for coats and linens and the vacuum and other random stuff.  And also as my pantry. 

Well I realized that I don't need all of my linens to be stored there.  I can keep a small shelf with linens I use regularly and then store the rest in a less convenient spot.  Which is OK as I don't need to access them daily.  I also keep most of my coats on a messy coat tree by the door.  Beautiful?  No.  But it's practical and where the coats land.  So I don't need this closet to be dedicated to something that lives elsewhere.

So I had my dad move a shelf from a lower section to a higher section.  That freed up space to move a different storage shelf around.  Giving me MUCH more storage space, as well as better access to the deep shelves on the side of the closet.

I will take better photos this weekend but just had to show you what I discovered in the process of pulling every single item out and moving things around.

Discovery #1:
I will never have bad breath.  Ever. 

This photo is AFTER I removed about 10 big tubes of toothpaste.  So you are looking at 18 full size tubes- that's excluding all of the travel size tubes.  If we got trick-or-treaters around here I would pass out toothpaste instead of candy.  You know you're an extreme couponer when you have enough toothpaste to last a lifetime!

Discovery #2:
I will always have clean dishes.  Always.

I know that first photo is terrible but you know, it was late and it is what it is.  I think I got those four big Finish systems for free last winter.  I've yet to use them though because they were in the waaaay back of this closet and I couldn't reach them.

In addition to the four big hang in the dishwasher systems, I also have a bag of maybe 10 three packs of Cascade.  I've used a few so I am guessing there are 10 or so in that zip top bag you see.  Then there are 10 boxes of 20 tabs and 15 boxes of the Finish Quantum tabs.  I probably paid less than $20 out of pocket for all that you see there.  I recently bought two boxes at CVS because I didn't have a clue how many boxes I already owned.  Yikes! 

I love love these Finish tabs though so this hot mess of a photo actually gives me a strange joy. 

Discovery #3:

This isn't all of my full size lotion.  It's sadly, only half of what I own.  OK so I went many months when I first started couponing where finding lotion at half off was a steal.  So I would buy lotion here and there at what I felt were decent prices.  Then I started to find lotion nearly free the last few months. 

So I have clearly bought in excess.  I counted 40 full size bottles of lotion.  And 21 mini bottles.  That's ridiculous, y'all!  Everyone is getting lotion in gifts for the foreseeable future.  And I will honestly use it too.  Of the 40 full size bottles, I only dislike one of them.  And I would totally use it if I didn't have 39 others that I like much better.  But really...this is hoarderish.  No more lotion is allowed to come into my home.  Period.


So I had several other interesting discoveries but they will have to wait until I take time to snap photos.  Even though I have an insane amount of some things, I am super low on others.  This closet re-do was not only helpful as far as organization but it's really helped me focus on what I need to scout deals on to stock up.